The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty

The Irish have always been known as great storytellers, but now they're all turning into great writers as well, and it seems they're coming out of the woodwork. Sebastian Barry's The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty places the protagonist in the small village of Sligo where he is an innocent among angry partisans. When he chooses to alleviate his problems of employment by taking a job with the Royal Irish Constabulary, the British-led police force, he irrevocably alters his life - as you might imagine! With beautiful language and ethereal descriptive passages, Barry allows readers to follow Eneas' travels and travails - all of us hoping for a happy ending.

This has to be the best novel written, at least in the English language, in the latter half of the 20th century, and I've read A LOT of the best books of this time period. It is simply amazing, and I'm not even going to give a word of it away in this review. It has everything that makes a novel good, but most striking is the sheer poetry of the language. An absolute masterpiece.

A beautiful, sad book. Eneas McNulty is an innocent set loose in a world treacherous and unforgiving but he remains gentle, kind and amazingly generous through all that befalls him. A fascinating look at 20th century Ireland through the eyes of a wonderfully realized character.

What a gift Sebastian Barry has given us all. --A remarkable book which seems to have pushed the language a little closer toward expresing feeling in words. The writer is a poet; his use of language has a transparent quality that make the poetry of life itself more apparent.The title hints at a modern day Aenid, and indeed this Eneas wanders far and wearily, like his ancient counter-part. I wonder if Barry recognized the power of his own voice as he took up the linguistic legacy of Joyce, giving a nod to Ulysses in his text?But as much as the language of the book is delightful, so too is the story. Barry has taken as his hero someone who has fallen on the wrong side of romantic history. The author does more than redeem Eneas's suffering, he very quietly requires the reader to re-think attitudes about the romantic and heroic aspects of war.This book is certainly the finest piece of recently written prose I have come upon. I am extremely grateful to Sebastian Barry for sharing his gifts with us.

Sebastian Barry's command of language, his passion for life, and his ability to leave room for his characters to breathe, and for the reader to therefore be drawn in and inhabit their special world is unsurpassed. I assume that the succes of books like 'Angela's Ashes' may attract readers to the latest spate of Irish novels (Roddy Doyle's 'Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha' is the best of the previous lot), but Barry's book leaves McCourt's trifle in the dust. A gem in every line, an epiphany per page, a revelation and redemption for all who make this brilliant journey.